BOSTON–Agape International, an orphanage for children made homeless because of AIDs, announced that a donor has committed an unprecedented matching grant of $150,000 to the orphanage in Hyderabad, one of the very few facilities that take HIV+ children in India.

If Agape receives donations totaling $150,000 by Dec. 31, an Agape supporter will match the funds bringing the total to $300,000.

“This funding will allow Agape to look for a parcel of land, as well as seek additional funding from corporate and charitable foundations to complete the construction of the facility,” Agape International said in a statement.

Donations towards this matching campaign can be made at agapeintl.org/match2017. For more information contact, Joe Joseph at joe@agapeintl.org.

“When I began Agape with six children in my home in Hyderabad 17 years ago, I had no idea how everything would unfold,” said Lynne Voggu, Agape’s founder and Executive Director. “What started as a plan to house a small number of children who had no one to care for them, quickly grew as more children were brought to us. And because of resistance and fear of HIV, we realized we had to create our own school if the children were to get an education.”

Today, Agape has grown to nearly 250 children – both those with HIV and those without–and they are cared for and housed in seven different buildings in Hyderabad. Agape’s English-medium school gives them an education virtually unheard of among poor Indian children.

After graduating from Agape’s high school, the children are prepared for a path to continue on to technical training or college, and some of the orphanage’s first children have continued on to graduate school and are now working and supporting themselves.

Voggu, an American who left her life and career in Boston, to start the orphanage feels that Agape has reached a critical point.

“Landlord and neighbor resistance, restricted space and logistical challenges of running all our facilities has shown us that Agape needs its own facility to ensure we can continue.” Voggu said. “Our plan is to purchase land within an hour of the hospital in Hyderabad, where we can house all of the children, have a school and the kids can live, play and learn in a safe environment.”